‘Rated Note Feeders’ Attract NAIC Attention

Holding a rated note (instead of an unrated private equity fund) can reduce the extra capital that life insurers need to post when buying risky, unrated private assets. Insurance regulators have taken interest in the strategy but are responding at a crawl. (Image: 'Sleeping Guards,' Piero della Francesca.)

A Flood of ‘Flow Reinsurance’

Flow reinsurance involves the ongoing, immediate transfer of risks from a life insurer to a reinsurer as soon as annuities are issued. Life/annuity companies have used flow reinsurance for at least 15 years, but it’s growing fast. (Photo: Gullfoss in Iceland.)

Nut Case: Prudential and Brighthouse’s Bets on Pistachios

A California pistachio grower defaulted on $1 billion in loans from Prudential, Brighthouse Life, and U.S. Bank this year. Their legal efforts to seize the collateral offer a glimpse into the potential risks of such concentrated loans.
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Build a Ladder of SPIVAs

A new research paper, published in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Pension Economic and Finance shows that retirees can work around that liquidity problem by transferring assets incrementally from non-annuity accounts to single premium income variable annuities (SPIVAs) in retirement and by adjusting the asset allocation of both types of accounts to suit personal risk tolerances.

The End of the VA Arms Race – Part III

The guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit will survive by attaching itself to a new product, such as managed accounts, or by finding a new market, like workplace retirement plans.

Fixated On Fixed Annuities

Sales of fixed annuities topped $30 billion in the first three months of 2009, as investors and advisors feasted on their safe, better-than-CD returns for the second consecutive quarter.

SPIA/LTC Hybrid Still Just a Concept

In this product, the adverse selection factors that plague both LTC insurance and immediate annuities would partially cancel each other out.
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EIAs Work Best During Worst Markets

“Selling guarantees is like smoking Cuban cigars while driving a dynamite truck. You better do it carefully,” a Journal of Financial Planning article observes.